Winter Holiday 2011 @ Königssee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany [ entry 3 of 5 ]

event :: Winter Holiday 2011 @ Königssee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany
date :: 16 - 22 December 2011
locatio :: Konigssee, Berchtesgaden National Park, Germany
theme :: red.

[1] On Saturday 17th December, our initial plan was to leave Rothenburg at 12pm and head to Berchtesgaden National Park but because the weather was sunny in the morning, we decided to leave Rothenburg at 1pm. This was a perfect decision because right after we left the sky turned cloudy. According to the GPS, it should take about 4 hours driving, but it took us almost 5 hours due to the heavy snow. Right after we left the motorway and entering the national park area, the road condition was icy probably because the snow were not cleared as often and less vehicles driving in the area.




[2] Because we know we were going at a very low speed, I decided to call the owner of the guest house : Haus Jennerblick in Schönau am Königssee that we were staying to inform him that we will be 1 hour late. Alfred (the owner) assured us not to worry and to  drive carefully. We arrived at the guest house at 6.20pm. We were given the option whether we want the room facing the mountain (also facing the main street) or the one facing other guesthouses but quieter. He 'had' us at facing the mountains :P We were also given a short tour of the guesthouse.




[3] That Sunday morning, we planned to woke up early, but we overslept until almost 7am (late by our definition probably). It was probably because we were quite tired from the previous day's adventures. The first thing we did when we woke up was to check out the balcony. We found that  the sky was extremely clear with no clouds and the surrounding houses were covered with snow! After we finished getting ready, hubbykun wanted to head immediately for breakfast. But i insisted that hubbykun took some photos and video of the scenery because it was simply too beautiful too ignore! This photo shows the view from our room (so am I right or am I right?? ;))




[4] The room came with free breakfast that was served between 7.30-9am. We came down at 8am and found that we were the first ones to be up :P The owner was amazed at how early we woke up (if only he knew that we sometimes go out as early as 5.30am especially during spring/summer holiday, he would have been more shocked I guess :P). Since we told him that we do not take meat the night we checked-in, he prepared two medium boiled eggs for each of us together with 4 different types of bread and 3 different types of cheese. Hehe. The bread was also served with honey, raspberry jam and butter. We also served with some hot green tea and fresh orange. Since it was a Sunday and we were aware that most shops would be closed and finding vegetarian-friendly food might be tricky (hubbykun said Bavarian food are very meat-based and not much seafood option either) especially in the sparsely populated national park, we packed the leftover bread as lunch.




[5] We finished breakfast at 8.20am and set out to explore the national park. We thought we could immediately leave, but found that the car was covered with snow till the point that the rear door can't even be opened due to ice sticking the door shut. So we had to scrap the snow and turned on the heater at full power. The scenery around guest houses in snow, added with the help of its location at a valley of the surrounding mountains was really beautiful. So we ended spending more than an hour taking photos and videos here.




[6] After that, we were undecided whether to spend some time in Berschtesgaden town centre that we went the night before or to head down straight to Konigssee. The pro of  going to town is since it was a Sunday morning, there would be no crowd and parking will be easy to find + free too. Also we would have the opportunity to visit the tourist information centre to get some maps/travel recommendations. However, since it was already almost 10am, we decided to head to Konigssee to enjoy a more countryside view while the day was sunny and bright.




[7] Thankfully with the GPS, we can make do without maps. I just searched for the list of point of interests (POIs) in the direction of Konigssee. We found that the King's Lake is located around 4km from the guest house. Since the map view looked about right, we chose to head there. Upon reaching the marked POI, we were unsure where to park and were driving around to look for one. Then, we accidentally came across the cable car station (Jenner-bahn) and asked the lady at the counter on where to park.




[8] She pointed to a huge carpark just 100m away (how silly we didn't noticed it ourselves when we were driving around there). We also asked for a map of the area. While we were driving around, we saw a few men operating a snow blower. Hubbykun  guessed that this was usually used by ski  resorts and true enough shortly after, we saw people wearing ski-gear walking and heading towards the cable car. It was exciting seeing them walking around in the skiing blade (or whatever people call it). I'm so jealous!




[9] From the carpark, you'd need to cross the road and walk about 100m to get to this large square where a boat station was located. We received a 50% discount at the parking meter (a day ticket was supposed to be €4, but we paid €2 only) because we have the guesthouse card that we received from Alfred the morning before we left. We looked around to find the popular red-dome church landmark that we saw on almost every brochure on Konigssee/Berchtesgaden. But we couldn't find it anywhere. Then, we saw a lot of people queueing at the boat ticketing kiosk and we also headed there to ask for directions.




[10] Somehow, rather than asking question, we ended up buying the return boat ride ticket, which cost €13/person. There was already a boat docked at the pier, scheduled to leave at 10.40am. While waiting for the boat to depart, only then did we started reading the brochures. We found out that the boat trip will take 30 minutes. Hubbykun was a bit concerned that we will just be sitting 1 hour in the boat enjoying the view, which meant very limited picture opportunity. Also, it would mean a waste of the nice weather outside. By now, he was regretting on our rash decision to take the boat ride :(




[11] Upon closer inspection of the brochure, we found out that the red dome church is known as St. Bartolomew. Also, it can only be reached by boat or through a long hike across the surrounding mountain, which meant no car access. This was what the lady at the cable car was trying to tell us then, but we were too dense to understand then :P. Therefore, in fact our impulse decision to take the boat ride was the right one ;) Hubbykun went back to happy-mode then ;)




[12] By the time the boat departed, it was full to capacity making it impossible to move in the boat. So we ended up just taking picture of the panorama from the window. Although the windows were 'smokey' from the boat heater, luckily they can be opened. People do not seem to mind either that the windows were open letting in the chilly air. Unfortunately, the tour guide in the boat only speak German, so we couldn't understand a single word while others were laughing animatedly at his jokes.




[13] At one point of the lake known as 'Echowand', the driver stopped the boat and stand at the boat entrance to play a trumpet ('flugelhorn'). Because of the surrounding mountain valleys, the song echoed once after each verse. According to the brochure, with good weather it can  sometimes even echo twice. Also, in the old days, instead of flugelhorn, the driver usually shot hand cannons filled with black powder 7 times. Everyone enjoyed the cool show and clapped loudly after he finished the song. He then went around the boat for some tip collection before continuing on to the church. Check out our video at the end of this entry for the footage of the echo.




[14] I was informed that the Konigssee lake is famous for its clear waters and advertised as the cleanest lake in Germany. Since 1909, thanks to Prince Regent Luitpold desire to protect nature, electric (battery powered) boats are inaugurated to preserve the cleanliness and the silence of the lake. For this reason only electric-driven, pedal, or row boats are allowed on the lake since 1909. The lake is 8km long, 1.25km wide and 602m above sea level (just for comparison: Munich is 500m and Berlin is 35m above sea level). The average depth of the lake is 150m and the deepest is 200m. This is the sign board at St Bartolomew boat station displaying the return trip timetable.




[15] During the boat ride, we also passed the Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus), which I would have loved to check out this landmark. This site can be reached by bus in 20min or by foot in 2 hrs when weather permitting. But I do not think it is accessible during this time of the year due to the high volume snow blocking the road paths.  We couldn't see the site from the boat due to its position 1843 m high atop a mountain. In case you are not familiar with the WWII history or have never watched 'Valkyrie' movie (starring Tom Cruise) before, this used to be Hitler's diplomatic house given to him as a 50th birthday present. It is now used as a restaurant, which attracts a lot of visitor due to its beautiful panaroma.




[16] As soon as we landed at the dock, hubbykun straight away took photos non-stop. The light mist around the lake made the scenery especially beautiful. According to Wiki, the St. Bartholomä is a Catholic pilgrimage church, named after Saint Bartholomew the Apostle patron of alpine farmers and dairymen, and it is located at the western shore of the Königssee lake.




[17] A first chapel at the lake was built in 1134 by the Provosts of Berchtesgaden. From 1697 onwards it has been rebuilt in a Baroque style with a floor plan modelled on Salzburg Cathedral, two onion domes and a red domed roof. Near the chapel lies the old hunting lodge of the same name. The lodge, which was first erected in the 12th century with the church, has been rebuilt multiple times. Until 1803, it was a private residence of the Berchtesgaden Prince-provosts




[18] At first, we were only taking just along the lake. But after having our fill of poses here, we began to noticed that a number of people were referring to pedestrian sign boards and headed into the woods direction. We saw that the nearest walk was a 15 minutes walk to Am Eisbach. The next nearest one is Eiskapelle ('ice cave') which required 1.5 hours walking time. We have no idea what these attractions were, but we decided to copy others and explore the woods too ;)




[19] Even though the walk was supposed to be 15 minutes, knowing hubbykun with his obsession on taking photos every 5 seconds, we ended up spending >1hour for the walk. Hubbykun came up with so many ideas for poses to do such as the ones he saw in magazine, brochures, on paintings, on calendar as well as he wanted to try some horizontal AND vertical panorama shots. Finally, I had to put a stop because we were running out of time (we haven't done our Zohor/Asar prayers and I was planning to catch a boat back to do that).




[20] Since we haven't found any attractions by even though we started hurrying up after that, we find that there is no way we can make it for the 3.05pm boat , I told hubbykun that we have to pray somewhere here (either look for a WC or use the snow for ablution huhi :P), we will catch the last boat (I think), which was scheduled at 3.45pm instead. (I saw in the schedule another time at 4.30pm but it doesn't say if this service are available during winter months, better not take our chances. It is also understandably that they stopped the service earlier because it will be dark by 4pm). We continued walking until we saw this small chapel. There was also a foot bridge that was covered with snow, making it extremely slippery here. We quickly take photos then follow pace of the 'uncle' in front of us (he has much longer legs, so I find I have to walk super fast!) to catch the next boat.




[21] Luckily, we found out that the restaurant near the boat station has a public WC (fuh! No need ice water thank God!). In our hurry to get to the WC and our ignorance (not bothering to ask people of find out in advance that damen=women, herren=gents), we accidentally went into the wrong gender toilets! Aiyark! Luckily I quickly ran out as fast as I could, so no unwanted incident happened :S We then performed our prayers, just a few minutes before the boat supposed arrival time. Turned out the boat was about 10 minutes late. While waiting, we continued to take photos at the jetty.




[22] After reaching the starting point of the boat ride, we decided to take some photos around the square. I saw that we have some leftover bread from breakfast that morning (it was a high fiber bread that we are both not a fan of too :P), so I started feeding the ducks. At first I was wary if we are realy allowed to feed the animals and perhaps dirty the lake. But hubbykun said that it is usually encourage to feed them especially during the winter season because food are more rare at this time of year. And seeing the way they fight for the bread , it looked like they were really starving. I wished I had more food with me. I tried to be fair by throwing the bread to different directions, but some ducks preferred to wait near my feet instead. Hehe so cute. It was a lot of fun watching them race for it. I told hubbykun that I wanted to this again ;)




[23] After that, we headed back to Berchtesgaden town and find that it was crowded and much livelier  compared to the the day before. Probably because it was no longer snowing. We didn't take any pictures though because we have taken plenty the day before and satisfied with the day's numerous photos at Konigssee. We also found that the tourist info office was closed but luckily they do left some brochures outside. However, there were rather limited that were in English, so we decided to ask again the next day when the office will be opened. Our socks and shoes were soaked wet from all those venturing into the snow, it felt like my feet were frozen and it was very painful too. We found the trick to get over the pain was to costantly walk (probably for better blood circulation). At 6pm we head back to the guest house, tired to the bones. Even though we decided to take an early night rest, it was almost 10pm  by the time we slept after having instant noodles for dinner, showering, and  figuring out the next day's plan.




[24] Finally the video during our visit to Konigsee. We also would like to take this opportunity to wish Happy Chinese New Year for those who celebrate and happy holiday to everyone :D










up on our next entry, the white town.